OASIS Coordinators' Conference Reference Manual Tab 7: OASIS Questions and Answers Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services RM-429 OASIS Coordinators' Conference Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services RM-430 OASIS Coordinators' Conference CATEGORY 1 – APPLICABILITY [Q&A EDITED 09/09] Q1. To whom do the OASIS requirements apply? A1. The comprehensive assessment and OASIS data collection requirements apply to Medicare certified home health agencies (HHAs) and to Medicaid home health providers in States where those agencies are required to meet the Medicare Conditions of Participation. The comprehensive assessment requirement currently applies to all patients regardless of pay source, including Medicare, Medicaid, Medicare managed care (now known as Medicare Advantage), Medicaid managed care, and private pay/including commercial insurance. The comprehensive assessment must include OASIS items for all skilled Medicare, Medicaid, and Medicare or Medicaid managed care patients with the following exceptions: patients under the age of 18, patients receiving maternity services, patients receiving only chore or housekeeping services, and patients receiving only a single visit in a quality episode. Section 704 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 temporarily suspended OASIS data collection for non-Medicare and non-Medicaid patients. OASIS requirements for patients receiving only personal care (non-skilled) services have been delayed since 1999. The transmission requirement currently applies to Medicare and Medicaid patients receiving skilled care only. Note: The Medicare PPS reimbursement system requires a PPS (HHRG/HIPPS) code to be submitted on the claim of any Medicare PPS patient under 18 or receiving maternity services. While the OASIS data set was not designed for these population types, and is not required by regulation to be collected, in these rare instances, HHAs desiring to receive payment under Medicare PPS would need to collect the data necessary to generate a HHRG/ HIPPS code. The HHA is not required to transmit these data to the State. (You can read or download the December 2003 notice from http://www.cms.hhs.gov/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/PMSR/list.asp#TopofPage. Search for 04-12) [Q&A ADDED 09/09; Previously CMS OCCB Q&A 04/09 Q&A #1] Q1.1. We are a pediatric Medicaid certified home healthcare agency. We are currently collecting OASIS data on several clients over the age of 18. If we were not Medicare certified, would we need to continue to collect OASIS on these clients? A1.1. First, if you are solely a Medicaid home health provider and not a Medicare certified provider, you would only be required to collect OASIS if your state requires you to meet the Medicare Conditions of Participation. If, as an organization, you are required to collect and submit OASIS because your state requires you to meet the Medicare Conditions of Participation, you must do so on all skilled Medicare and Medicaid patients except those under the age of 18, maternity patients, personal care only patients and patients receiving only a single visit in a quality episode. [Formerly Q&A #8; EDITED 08/07] Q1.2. A patient turns 18 while in the care of an HHA -when do we do the first OASIS assessment? Category 1 - Applicability 09/09 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services RM-431 OASIS Coordinators' Conference A1.2. If the patient is under age 18 and the home care is covered under Medicare PPS, the HHA must complete the comprehensive assessment, including the OASIS, to obtain a Medicare PPS (HHRG/HIPPS) code. The HHRG/HIPPS code is submitted on the request for advance payment (RAP). The OASIS data would not be submitted to the State OASIS system. For a skilled Medicare/Medicaid patient who turns 18 while under the care of an HHA, the comprehensive assessment with OASIS data collection and submission to the State OASIS system would occur the first time one of the following events takes place: 1-When patient returns home from a qualifying inpatient stay - Resumption of Care, i.e., RFA#3; 2-When patient is transferred to an inpatient facility for 24 hours or longer (for a reason other than diagnostic tests) -Transfer to an Inpatient Facility -RFA#6 if not discharged from the HHA or RFA#7 if discharged from the HHA; 3-When the 60 day recertification is due, i.e., the last five days of the certification period -Follow-up, i.e., RFA#4; 4-When there is a major decline or major improvement in the patient’s condition to update the care plan -Other follow-up, i.e., RFA#5; or 5-On death of the patient at home, or when the patient is discharged from the agency i.e., RFA#8 - death or RFA#9 -normal discharge. If the patient is not a Medicare or Medicaid patient, other regulations apply. Effective December 8, 2003, OASIS data collection for non-Medicare/non-Medicaid patients was temporarily suspended under Section 704 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003. Note that the Conditions of Participation (CoP) at 42 CFR sections 484.20 and 484.55 require that agencies must provide each agency patient, regardless of payment source, with a patient-specific comprehensive assessment that accurately reflects the patient's current health status and includes information that may be used to demonstrate the patient's progress toward the achievement of desired outcomes. The comprehensive assessment must also identify the patient's continuing need for home care, medical, nursing, rehabilitative, social, and discharge planning needs. If they choose, agencies may continue to collect OASIS data on their non-Medicare/non-Medicaid patients for their own use. To access the CoP, go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/center/hha.asp, click on "Conditions of Participation: Home Health Agencies" in the "Participation" category. A memo was sent to surveyors on 12/11/03, "The Collection and Transmission of the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) for Private Pay Patients," which you can access by going to the CMS OASIS web site at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/PMSR/list.asp#TopofPage, scroll down and click on "Survey and Certification Policy Memoranda," it is memo 04-12 on the list for 2004. [Q&A ADDED 09/09; Previously CMS OCCB Q&A 10/07 Q&A #1] Q1.3. It is my understanding that OASIS collection is not required for Medicare patients under the age of 18. How do you submit a claim with the appropriate HIPPS/HHRG if you do not complete the OASIS assessment? If you do complete an OASIS assessment, can it be submitted to the state? Where would I search on the website for this type of information? A1.3. The Conditions of Participation do not require OASIS data collection on pediatric patients. However, if Medicare is the payer, at least the payment OASIS items would have to be collected in order to generate the payer requirement of a HHRG/HIPPS code. This code would be submitted to the Regional Home Health Intermediary (RHHI) for billing purposes only. The data should not be submitted to the State System. The OASIS State System will reject any incomplete assessments or any data submitted for patients younger than 18 years of age. Category 1 - Applicability 09/09 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services RM-432 OASIS Coordinators' Conference For further information regarding data submission, contact your OASIS Automation Coordinator (OAC). Contact information is available at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/OASIS/07_AutomationCoord.asp#TopOfPage. For further information about coverage or billing, contact your RHHI. 2. [Q&A RETIRED 09/09; REDUNDANT TO GUIDANCE FOUND IN Q&A #2.1] [Formerly Q&A 11; EDITED 09/09; ADDED 08/07; Originally CMS OCCB Q&A 05/07 Q&A #1] Q2.1. Do we need to collect OASIS on a patient admitted to home health with post-partum complications? If we open a patient 2-3 months after a C- section for infection of the wound, do we collect OASIS, or do we consider this "maternity"? What is the definition of “maternity" and when do we collect OASIS on these patients? A2.1. The Conditions of Participation do not require OASIS data collection for patients receiving only maternity-related services. If the patient was a Medicare PPS patient, the OASIS data would be required in order to generate an HHRG/HIPPS code for payment under PPS. Post-partum complications and a wound infection in the C-section incision are only possible in maternity patients. Maternity patients are patients who are currently or were recently pregnant and are receiving treatment as a direct result of the pregnancy. [Q&A EDITED 09/09] Q3. How do the OASIS regulations apply to Medicaid HHA programs? Do the OASIS regulations apply to HHAs operating under Medicaid waiver programs? A3. The OASIS regulations apply to HHAs that must meet the home health Medicare Conditions of Participation (CoP). An agency that currently must meet the Medicare CoP under Federal and/or State law will need to meet the CoP related to OASIS and the comprehensive assessment. If an HHA operates under a Medicaid waiver, and if that State's law requires HHAs to meet the Medicare CoP in order to operate under the Medicaid waiver, then OASIS applies. If an HHA operates under a Medicaid waiver, and if that State's law does not require that the HHA meet the Medicare CoP in order to operate under the Medicaid waiver, then OASIS does not apply. HHAs should be aware of the rules governing HHAs in their State. Currently, OASIS requirements apply to all patients receiving skilled care reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid, and Medicare or Medicaid managed care patients with the following exceptions: patients under the age of 18, patients receiving maternity services, patients receiving only chore or housekeeping services, and patients receiving only one visit in a quality episode.